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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. field — farmland
  4. degree — from a university
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. rush — hurry
  7. field — for sport
  8. degree — an amount
  9. hand — help
  10. field — a subject
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. chair — a leader
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. hand — in cards
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com